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4 Ways Fiber Works Like the Gospel: Green Juice and Biscuits
As many might know, drinking fresh green juice is a wholesome way to supplement a modern day diet. Juicing has become extremely popular because of its numerous health benefits, including boosting energy levels and providing a concentrated source of essential vitamins and minerals, especially from foods we usually wouldn't eat raw and whole but are super nutritious. But the benefits of fresh juice extend beyond just the liquid itself. The pulp leftover from juicing is often discarded, but contains a high functioning byproduct that most Americans and modern day diets are lacking in!
Juicing has become very popular but most people don't think twice about dumping the juice pulp, or don't think about the pulp that was missed when they buy a bottle of fresh juice from the store. There are numerous ways to use juice pulp. For one, it can be used to make crackers, croutons, and homemade broths, food products that are conveniently sold at the store but are highly processed and ladened with salt. Juice pulp can also be used to add into soup, stirred into beans for texture, or simply blened into smoothies, to name a few. It not only minimizes nutritional waste, it allows us to add a life saving nutrient back into our meals: fiber.
How Fiber is Like the Gospel
So how is fiber like the gospel, and how could any nutrient even compare to what God's word can do in our life? To answer that, let's first remember that all nutrients and their processes were created by God himself. Therefore, fiber can easily be compared to the gospel because it is something that is crucial for our health. Furthermore, fiber is something found in bread. Symbolically, the Word of God is the bread of life!
Many pastors preach a watered down gospel. Pun intended.
First of all, fiber as a nutrient, removes what the body cannot process. This is why it is a life saving nutrient. Fiber binds to waste, toxins, excess cholesterol, and other metabolic byproducts that the body must remove. It carries out what hinders digestive processes. Excess waste in the body can cause inflammation, constipation, and low energy. The energy flow that keeps things moving in our gut begins to slow down without fiber, causing a sluggish digestive tract and eventually a diseased one.
Likewise, the gospel is vital for our health, spiritually. Like fiber, the gospel, or the good news from the Bible, removes things the flesh tries on its own but cannot. such as hate, shame, guilt, fear, anxiety, and other spiritually draining toxins. How so? It does this through Jesus Christ. Jesus didn't just pay for our sins on the cross. He took away our sin! Without the gospel, we can easily get stuck in our own ways, but with Jesus, the Word of life, our mind becomes transformed to see things according to His reasoning and greater purpose for us. The gospel then keeps us moving forward and gets us out of being stuck.
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ~John 1:29
Secondly, fiber cleanses the body and changes the gut environment. It feeds beneficial bacteria so that the good colonies grow and crowd out the bad ones. The gospel works in us in a similar way. It cleanses and changes the heart so that the soul is no longer weighed down by self condemnation. It feeds the soul and begins to crowd out our negative thoughts with more positive and eternal ones.
and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. ~Phillipians 4:7
Thirdly, consuming fiber has to be consistent, not occasional. Eating just a few high-fibered meals occasionally will not balance or fix our gut and health issues. Gaining the benefits from a high fibered diet can only come from daily intake. Similarly, the gospel must also be encountered regularly in order to recieve and keep its transformational benefits. This is demonstrated in Exodus 16: 1-4 when God fed the Israelites daily bread or manna. Where fiber works through keeping a steady flow metabolically in our bodies, the gospel works through abiding in God's word.
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me." ~John 15:4
Lastly, fiber has been shown to protect us against long-term diseases. High fiber diets are linked to lower risks of heart disease, diabetes, inflammation, and colon cancer. It strengthens our resilience to diseases from the inside out. Likewise, the gospel protects us from the spiritual decay of pride, hatred, bitterness, self righteousness, hopelessness, anxiety, and chronic stress. Since these spiritual conditions greatly increase the risk of phyiscal diseases, God's Word then becomes more protective and important because even if our diet was perfect, we could still acquire modern day diseases from the wrong mindset caused by spiritual deficiencies.
He sent out His word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions." ~Psalm 107:20
Juice & Pulp Recipes
Ok, so now that we know how important fiber and the gospel are to our health, physically and spiritually, let's get busy with some delicious juicing and baking!
Green Juice: Cucumber Pineapple
5 cold cucumbers, cut in quarters
1 bunch of lacinato kale, chopped well
1/3 fresh pineapple, chopped
1 inch ginger knob, peeled
Juice everything just once. I say this because I sometimes juice the pulp one extra time. We don’t want an extremely dry pulp. This recipe makes about 8 cups of green juice, depending on the weight of your produce.
Juice Pulp Recipe: Pulp and Flaxseed Biscuits
3 cups your choice of organic flour, sprouted is ideal
1 1/2 cups oat flour, freshly ground is best
1 1/2 cups juice pulp
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
3/4 cup freshly ground dark flaxseeds
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
Although this juicing recipe includes fruit, the biscuits will not retain these flavors. In fact, it can enhance it. Since the majority of the flavors in fruits and vegetables are retained in their juice, the pulp will not dramatcially alter the flavor of the bread.
In a large mixing bowl, add all of the ingredients. Using a fork in the beginning, mix and combine all the ingredients. Depending on how dry or moist your dough becomes, you may need to add more flour or milk. If so, use 1 tablespoon at a time until you acquire the perfect texture for your dough. In the end, it shouldn't be sticky and look as shown below.
Make golf ball sized shapes before pressing down on them with your palms to form round shapes. I made 20. Super easy and uncomplicated.
Bake them at 325 degrees on a lightly sprayed baking sheet or parchment paper for about 20 minutes. Flip them over after the 17th minute before taking them out. Keep them warm and fresh by wrapping them in a clean dish cloth. Enjoy!
I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty." ~John 6:35
Takeaways: many people are becoming aware that fiber from a whole foods diet is important these days for a long and healthy life. What most don’t know is that Jesus is the only way that can make us whole and healthy.
A whole foods plant based diet could never fix us permanently. Only Jesus can do that. He is the only one that removes sin and death. We can strive to eat perfect and live a long time on this earth but that will never fix sin and death. Jesus is the only way. Amen.
Written by Lupita Ronquillo, Ordained Health and Healing Minister, founder of Vegan Health and Yoga
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